Spring Rains
by Ivy Aithne
Summary: [sasusaku snapshot] “I love the rain, Sasuke kun,” she said quietly, grinning. Rain continued to pelt her form as she held out her hand.“Coming?” A twist to the kissing in the rain cliche. Fluffish


**Spring Rains**

For Vangel, who is one of the best friends I've ever had. Thank you for putting up with me and my insane problems in life and helping me get through them.

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When seventeen-year-old Haruno Sakura exited Tsunade's office holding a handful of medical scrolls that she intended to study that night, it was raining.

It was a spring rain-not too heavy, but not too light either. It was a cleansing rain-a rain that washed away the coldness of winter and brought in the warmth of summer; it washed away the old year and all the hurts and pains of the human heart. There was just something about the atmosphere-warm but cool at the same time with a slight breeze that made the rain fall in a slanted direction rather than just straight down…

At any rate, the second the pink-haired nin stepped outside, the scrolls were shoved to the side where they couldn't get wet and her white windbreaker was tossed to the ground.

Just a moment later, anyone in the vicinity could look out his or her window and see a figure dancing happily in the rain, spinning around in circles giggling to herself as she opened her arms wide to the heavens.

After all, if there was one thing that the teenager loved, it was rain.

A little while later, she got dizzy and stopped spinning, choosing instead to stand like the strong sakura trees that she was named after. Her face was tilted to meet the pattering drops of water, lips curved upward in a soft smile. Her hair was matted together and her clothing clung to her like second skin, but she didn't care.

"You're going to catch something."

Sakura opened her formerly closed eyes when she no longer felt the comforting drops of rain on her face, head still tilted back. Sparkling green orbs met cool onyx ones.

"Sasuke-kun?"

"Hn."

He stood there, like a man in an old black-and-white photograph, holding a black umbrella in his right hand over the two of them, shielding them from the falling malleable crystals. He was dressed in his usual pair of white shorts, but replaced his dark blue shirt with a black one for the day. A black windbreaker found itself on top of the ensemble with the Uchiha fan printed on the back; other than the bright red spattering on the jacket, no other color adorned him.

"You're going to catch something," he repeated, forcing the black umbrella handle into her cold hands as he took off his jacket and placed it on her shoulders, hands lingering there for a moment to pull out the wet strands of rosette hair that were matted to her neck.

As he took the umbrella back, he found his teammate's gaze unnerving. He raised an eyebrow at her, not voicing his silent question.

She understood and smiled, stepping out from under the shelter of his black umbrella.

"I love the rain, Sasuke-kun," she said quietly, grinning. Rain continued to pelt her form as she held out her hand.

"Coming?" she asked, trying to draw him out from the dryness of the umbrella.

He looked pensively at her, black jacket draped over her usual red dress with the Haruno clan symbol on it. He observed how her eyes lit up with happiness as she tilted her head back and stuck out her tongue, trying to catch an elusive raindrop. He watched how the liquid of life trailed down her form, as if cleansing her from all the stress that she had accumulated from training under the Hokage. He saw how happy she was, and how she momentarily stopped to reach out for him-to bring him out into the rain.

Perhaps it was time for him to let go.

But he was afraid-afraid that he would forget his late family and the treachery that was done to them.

He was afraid to be free.

"It's just water, Sasuke-kun! Come on! Haven't you ever been in the rain?"

He looked at her.

"I was never stupid enough to do so."

Sakura looked slightly put-out, but her enthusiasm was renewed as she saw his hands begin to loosen around the constricting black handle of the umbrella. She held out both her hands to him while trying to keep his jacket draped across her shoulders.

Yes, the seventeen-year-old raven-haired boy thought to himself, perhaps it's time to let go.

The black umbrella slowly fell from his hands as he hesitantly took Sakura's outreached hands. She drew him out into the rain, laughing as she walked backwards a few steps away from the formerly dry shelter.

"See? Isn't it nice, Sasuke-kun" she asked, laughing as she started moving to the left, spinning in a clockwise direction with him as her center. Sasuke moved with her, turning as she ran and skipped, still holding his hands and enjoying the rain.

A few moments later, she was breathless and stopped, never dropping his calloused hands.

She looked at him, hair hanging down out of its usual position, shirt soaked with little droplets of water on his face and arms.

"Sakura…" he said, momentarily looking back at the black umbrella that lay in a puddle on the ground, abandoned.

Sea-foam green eyes turned serious for a moment as she whispered: "Ne, Sasuke-kun, don't you think the rain is cleansing?"

His gaze turned back to her face, but not before lingering on the image of the black umbrella he left behind.

He gave her a small smirk.

"Hai, Sakura, it is."

It was time to let go.

He leaned down closer, drawing their conjoined hands to him, watching as her eyes began to close out of reflex. He touched her lips tenderly with his, gracing them with a feather-light kiss before kissing her a second time.

"Thank you, Sakura, arigato."

Green eyes fluttered open, granting her with the sight of his face extremely close to hers.

"I love you," she whispered, smiling as he nodded slightly.

They kissed again, rain pattering down gently on the two figures, black umbrella lying forgotten on the wet sidewalk.

Indeed, spring rains were cleansing rains.

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A/N: Did anyone catch the symbolism in this fic? I wanted this particular snapshot to mean a little bit more-please feel free to analyze and leave a review! Hope you liked it!

Note for all those who think I've died and abandoned Mission on the High Seas: I have one more week of IB testing, so expect an update within the next two weeks! Snapshots are short and quick, but MHS is an action/romance chaptered fic-it takes much longer to develop the plot line and write a good chapter. Please bear with me! I'm so sorry that I'm being a horrible author who never seems to update! Do leave me a message (either in a review or my e-mail, whichever) if you have any suggestions/comments/concerns. No flames, please! I've already gotten one for not updating. (sob) Thanks!


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